Girl Wakes Up to Smoke, Saving Family From Fire in Modi'in Illit

A family in Modi'in Illit narrowly escaped a fire in their apartment on Shabbat after one of the daughters woke up because of heavy smoke and alerted the others. The blaze broke out early in the morning on Mesilat Yosef Street, apparently after candles placed on top of a refrigerator ignited the fire. All family members managed to flee.

Fire crews from the Binyamin district were called to the scene, where they found the apartment burning and worked quickly to extinguish the flames, search for anyone trapped, and clear heat and smoke from the building. A preliminary investigation found that the fire was caused by candles lit on the refrigerator.

At the same time, another fire broke out during Shabbat in a building on Hafez Haim Street in the city. Firefighters extinguished an electrical cabinet that caught fire, while heavy smoke filled the building. The teams also ventilated the structure and searched for possible trapped residents.

Commander Reshef Moni Ben Zion said the incident on Mesilat Yosef Street was nearly a disaster. He said that if the daughter had not awakened, it would have been a completely different event, noting that heavy smoke filled the home and temperatures were high. He stressed that smoke alarms save lives because they warn of a fire and allow people to escape in time.